Carter to receive formats Gold

Gary Carter will be presented with the Formats Gold Award in Cannes during MipFormats.

The Gold Award is given annually to executives who have made an outstanding contribution to the formats business and is presented by C21 Media/EMC and FRAPA, in association with MipFormats.

Carter was appointed to the board of Helsinki-based creative agency KLOK in late 2015. Prior to this he was at Planet 24 in the mid-1990s, leading the team which developed Survivor.

He joined Endemol in 1997, where, as executive director of programmes, he acquired rights to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? from Celador and oversaw the roll-out of Big Brother.

He then joined FremantleMedia, where he stayed for a decade in various capacities, before being appointed chairman of Northern Europe for Shine Group. After the merger of Shine and Endemol, he was appointed co-CEO of international operations.

C21’s editor-in-chief & managing director David Jenkinson said: “Gary has been one of the most influential players in the formats business down the years. His creative leadership and vision has inspired a generation of formats executives and we are delighted to recognise his achievements with the Gold Award in 2016.”

Carter will be guest of honour at the Format Awards Gala Dinner on the evening of Saturday April 2.

Previous recipients are:

2015: Annie Wegelius

2014: Mark Itkin, William Morris Endeavor

2013: Stephen Lambert, Studio Lambert/All3Media

2012: David Lyle, Fox Reality

2011: Dick de Rijk, creator of gameshow hit Deal or No Deal

2010: Reg Grundy, former CEO of Grundy Television

2009: Peter Bazalgette, former creative director of Endemol Group

2008: Stephen Leahy and Trish Kinane, Ludus Entertainment

2007: Merv Griffin, creator of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy

Carter will also deliver a MipFormats keynote on Saturday, April 2.

Other key speakers at the event include Bibiane Godfroid, who will tell the MIPFormats audience about her ambitions for the French production powerhouse Newen Group in France and abroad, and the challenges she faces in the coming months.

In her newly-created role as president of international at ITV Studios, Maria Kyriacou will discuss the group’s international format strategy.

Kyriacou is leading all of ITV Studios’ international production companies outside America, along with ITV Studios’ international scripted strategy (which includes ITV Studios America), and ITV’s international distribution business ITV Studios Global Entertainment, which has a catalogue of more than 40,000 hours of prestigious content.

MipFormats participants will be given an exclusive insight into the latest trends in the marketplace presented by TV observatory The Wit. CEO Virginia Mouseler will present two Fresh TV sessions on formats, one dedicated to entertainment and gameshow pilots, a second on factual entertainment and reality shows.

MipFormats also offers a host of workshops, screenings, networking events, case studies and the International Pitching Competition.

MipFormats takes place in Cannes, France, on 2-3 April 2016, ahead of MipTV.